The Arunachal Pradesh Teacher Educators’ Association (APTEA) has suspended its indefinite pen-down strike, which began on July 9, following a written assurance from the state government regarding the timely release of monthly salaries for District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) employees. The assurance, provided by Education Commissioner Amjad Tak in a letter dated July 10, states that the state government will release the monthly salaries of DIET employees in line with the timeline for other regular state government employees. Additionally, the commissioner assured that the provision for disbursement of salaries of 11 DIETs will be explored through the state exchequer from the next financial year onwards, with due concurrence from the Finance Department and the Planning & Investment Department.
In response to the assurance, the APTEA temporarily suspended the strike in good faith and in the larger interest of DIET students and other stakeholders. However, the association emphasized that the suspension should not be construed as a closure or settlement of the issue, as the primary demand remains the regular and timely release of DIET employees’ salaries at par with other regular state government employees through the state exchequer from the next financial year onwards. The APTEA noted that the assurance came after a prolonged struggle, at a time when the salary of DIET employees for the month of June remains unpaid.
The association will closely monitor the implementation of the written assurance and has urged the education commissioner to direct branch officials to provide the status of the file to APTEA members. The APTEA warned that it would have no hesitation in resuming the indefinite pen-down protest and adopting other democratic forms of agitation in case of failure to implement the assurance or any recurrence of delay or irregularity in salary disbursement.
